Time display control method for an electronic microwave oven

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling time display of an electronic microwave oven. The method is characterized in that the lapse of the time since the time of cooking completion is displayed, a beep emitter beeps regularly within a predetermined intervals for a predetermined period since a cooking is completed, and said method comprises; step of that, when the temperature-set cooking is performed and a cooking temperature reaches a set temperature, cooking completion flag is set; step of that lapse of time since the time of cooking completion is displayed and a beep emitter beeps regularly within a predetermined interval for a predetermined period; and step of that after lapse of predetermined period since the time of cooking completion, the operation stops.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for controlling an electronicmicrowave oven, and more particularly to a method for controlling a timedisplay of the electronic microwave oven in such a way that theelectronic microwave oven can be rested for a given time duration aftercooking operation is completed.

Electronic microwave ovens in general as shown in FIG. 1 consist a powersupply device 2 for supplying power to a micro-processor (hereinafterreferred to as MICOM) 1, a relay driver 3 for receiving output from theMICOM 1 and driving a relay, a key-entry device 6, a display driver 5,and a beep emitter driver 4.

In conventional method, when a cooking time is set, the time starts todecrement from the set time until 0 (zero) is displayed, and then `End`is displayed followed by beeping of a beep emitter and either display ofa current time or blinking of just a colon(:).

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a one-second time flag F1 is checked forwhether or not having a value of `1`, and if the one-second time flag F1is `1`, whether or not a cooking is set is checked, and if the cookingis set, whether or not the cooking is being performed is checked, and ifthe cooking is being performed, whether or not the cooking is atemperature-set cooking, and if the cooking is not the temperature-setcooking, a value of `1` is subtracted from a set time data D2 to resetto a new time data D2, and then the newly set time data D2 is checkedfor whether or not having a value of `0`, and if the newly set time dataD2 is not `0`, a time-set cooking is proceeded and if the newly set timedata D2 is `0`, `End` is displayed and a beeping sound notifiescompletion of the cooking.

If the cooking is the temperature-set cooking, whether or not a settemperature is reached is checked, and if the set temperature is notreached, the temperature-set cooking is continued, and if the settemperature is reached, `End` is displayed and a beeping sound notifyingcompletion of the temperature-set cooking is outputted.

However, there is a setback in the prior art in that lapse of time sincecompletion of a cooking cannot be known so that whether or notre-heating is necessary cannot be judged.

The prior art is also disadvantageous in that completion of the cookingis not repeatedly notified so that an operator of a microwave oven ofthe prior art cannot be reminded of the completion of the cooking.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to resolve suchsetback and disadvantage by providing a method for displaying lapse oftime starting from completion of a cooking so that an operator can knowwhen the cooking was completed and for notifying the operator of thecompletion of the cooking by beeping a beep emitter every five minutesstarting from five minutes to 20 minutes so that the operator can bereminded of the completion of the cooking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same maybe carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example,to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional electronic microwave oven;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of operation of an electronic microwave ovenaccording to prior art; and

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a flow diagram of operation of an electronicmicrowave oven according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is now described in more detail with reference toFIG. 3.

When a start key is pressed, a one-second flag F1 is checked for whetheror not having a value of `1`, and if the one-second flag F1 is `1`,whether or not a cooking is set is checked, and if the cooking is set,as described in the prior art whether or not the cooking is atemperature-set cooking is checked, and if the cooking is not thetemperature-set cooking, a value of `1` is subtracted from a set timedata D2 to re-set to a new time data D2 and the new time data D2 ischecked for whether or not having a value of `0` (zero), and if the newtime data D2 is `0` (zero), cooking completion flag F2 is set and thecooking completion flag F2 is checked for whether or not having a valueof `1`, and if the time data D2 is not `0` (zero), time-set cooking isproceeded and a step of decrementing the set time is returned andsubsequent steps are repeated.

And if the cooking is the temperature-set cooking, whether or not a settemperature is reached is checked, and if the set temperature is notreached, the temperature-set cooking is proceeded and then whether ornot set temperature is reached is checked again, and if the settemperature is reached, then the cooking completion flag F2 is set andwhether or not the cooking completion flag F2 is `1` or not is checked.

And if the cooking completion flag F2 is `1` after whether or not thecooking completion flag F2 is 1 is checked, a value of a count-up dataD1 after completion of cooking is incremented by one, and then theincremented value of the count-up data D1 is checked and at points wherethe incremented value of the count-up data D1 becomes five minutes, tenminutes, and 15 minutes a beep emitter count flag F4 is set, and then abeep emitted on/off flag F3 is checked for whether or not having a valueof 1, and if the beep emitter on/off flag F3 is not 1, a beep emitter isset `on` and then the beep emitter on/off flag F3 is set, and if thebeep emitter on/off flag F3 is 1, the beep emitter is set `off`, thebeep emitter on/off flag F3 is reset and then whether or not a value ofthe count-up data D1 after completion of cooking is greater than orequal to 20 minutes.

And if the value of the count-up data D1 after completion of cooking isnot any of five minutes, ten minutes and 15 minutes, a step is followedin which whether or not the value of the count-up data D1 is greaterthan or equal to 20 minutes is checked.

And if the checked value of the count-up data D1 is smaller than 20minutes, the step of checking the value of the count-up data D1 isrepeated, and if the checked value of the count-up data D1 is greaterthan or equal to 20 minutes, `End` is displayed, and then the beepemitter on/off flags F3 is checked for whether or not the beep emitteron/off flag F3 is 1, and if the beep emitter on/off flag is not 1, thebeep emitter is set `on` and after the beep emitter on/off flag F3 isset whether or not the beep emitter on/off flag F3 is 1 is checked, andif the beep emitter on/off flag F3 is 1, the beep emitter is set `off`,the beep emitter on/off flag F3 is reset, and then operation is put to astop.

Therefore, as described in the foregoing, the present invention has anadvantage that an operator is able to not only know a lapse of timeafter cooking has ended so that the operator can decide whether or notre-heating is necessary, but also be notified of completion of cookingevery five minutes for a period of 20 minutes.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that modifications in detail may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of controlling time display for a microwaveoven characterized by the steps of determining whether cooking iscomplete, generating a signal upon determining cooking completion anddisplaying the lapse of time since the time of cooking completion,whereby an operator of the microwave oven can observe the lapse of timesince the cooking completion to determine whether a re-heating isnecessary.
 2. A method of controlling time display for a microwave ovenaccording to claim 1, characterized by the further steps of providing abeep emitter and; emitting beeps regularly at a predetermined intervalfor a predetermined period of time after the cooking completion.
 3. Amethod of displaying time for a microwave oven comprising the stepsof:selecting a parameter for determining completion of cooking; startingcooking; periodically checking to determine if the parameter fordetermining completion of cooking has been reached; continuing cookingif the parameter has not been reached; stopping cooking if the parameterhas been reached and generating an audible signal indicating thecompletion of cooking; generating a visual elapsed time signal forvisually displaying the elapsed time since the completion of cooking;comparing the elapsed time to selected values of elapsed time; andgenerating audible signals when the selected values of elapsed time havebeen reached, whereby the audible signals remind an operator of themicrowave oven that cooking is complete, and whereby the visual displaysof elapsed time since completion of cooking enable the operator todetermine whether re-heating is necessary.
 4. A method as in claim 3,wherein the selected values of elapsed time are five minutes, tenminutes and fifteen minutes after the completion of cooking.
 5. A methodas in claim 3 further comprising the steps of:selecting a final elapsedtime since the completion of cooking; comparing the elapsed time to theselected final elapsed time and generating an end signal when theelapsed time equals the selected final elapsed time.
 6. A method as inclaim 5, wherein the selected final elapsed time equals twenty minutes.7. A method as in claim 3, wherein the parameter for determiningcompletion of cooking is a selected time from the start of cooking, andwherein the step of periodically checking to determine if the parameterhas been reached comprises measuring the time from the start of cookingand periodically comparing the time from the start of cooking to theselected time for completion of cooking.
 8. A method as in claim 3,wherein the parameter for determining completion of cooking is aselected temperature of an item being cooked, and wherein the step ofperiodically checking to determine if the parameter has been reachedcomprises measuring the actual temperature of the item being cooked andcomparing the actual temperature of the item being cooked to theselected temperature for determining completion of cooking.